Our videos of American Nightmare

Remedy has finally managed to bring back Alan Wake with the release of Alan Wake's American Nightmare, an Xbox Live Arcade title which is easily on par with other triple A games out there. The graphics engine is still pretty impressive, except maybe in daylight sequences. Combat-wise, nothing particularly new under the sun of Arizona, so no need to spend hours learning new techniques. It is however impossible to weaken an enemy without using the batteries of your torchlight now - which makes us wonder if the Southwest of the US only provides poor quality batteries. If you still haven't made up your mind about purchasing the game or not, take a look at our three videos inside.

All comments

Really a shame to see this game go from an open world adventure to a linear corridor shooter. This new game is a tiny bit more open than Alan Wake was, but it's still a brainless shooter with a couple of fetch quests thrown in. There's also virtually no story this time around.

Posted by moroboshiReally a shame to see this game go from an open world adventure to a linear corridor shooter. This new game is a tiny bit more open than Alan Wake was, but it's still a brainless shooter with a couple of fetch quests thrown in. There's also virtually no story this time around.

Could have been a contender.

This is just an action cash in. What did you expect?

The true sequel is coming, will probably not be open world but that was a concept that Remedy were trying early in development and SO many people have clinged on to that. If the devs couldn't get it the work then it didn't, it's as simple as that.

Posted by moroboshiReally a shame to see this game go from an open world adventure to a linear corridor shooter. This new game is a tiny bit more open than Alan Wake was, but it's still a brainless shooter with a couple of fetch quests thrown in. There's also virtually no story this time around.

Could have been a contender.

It was an overhyped Microsoft fest where the xbox owners were led to believe this game was a the holy grail instead it turned out into a sub par, not even good enough to be mediocre 3rd person shooter crap.

They really should have focused on making their max payne game first instead of this which btw are the same crap only in max payne there is no fear of black things coming at you.

Its even pathetic how the usually critical games media did not whine like the sandy butt filled spoiled sandys that there was no multiplayer online mode like they whined about EVERYother current gen game, specially those that were single player franchises.

Epic fail and a rip off and I actually played Alan Wake at my friends Xbox 360 Elite before it RRODeath-DIED and he was forced to buy the Xbox S. (thats his fourth Xbox 360 by the way)

I don't know why people keep crying about open world. What would open world even mean for this game? Obviously it didn't work out with the initial attempt and what they did come up with worked VERY well because it's my favorite game this gen by far. In my opinion the original AW is better than any other game this gen on any system. The only weakness was the lack of variety in the enemies you faced.
AW:AN is surprisingly good. This is sharper than the original and the shadow play is unmatched by any other game. I can still see shadows cast from individual buttons on a radio or the wire mesh from a desk fan. F'king amazing. I'm happy to see that it isn't all arcade and still gives me a chance to wander around and just explore or play with shadows. The option to switch from vsync and no vsync is the first I've seen in a console game!! Coming from a PC gamer that refuses to ever play without vsync, this is a real cool feature even though I've been using the smart vsync most of the time. Yes you are forced to use the flashlight battery to break down the darkness this time, but the battery recharges MUCH faster than the original so I don't need to run run run turn around run run turn around. I can stay in the action and just strafe/evade those bitches til they die. They did a wonderful job with this so far. Damn, I hope they are working on the sequel right now.

Posted by AkumajoIt was an overhyped Microsoft fest where the xbox owners were led to believe this game was a the holy grail instead it turned out into a sub par, not even good enough to be mediocre 3rd person shooter crap.

They really should have focused on making their max payne game first instead of this which btw are the same crap only in max payne there is no fear of black things coming at you.

Its even pathetic how the usually critical games media did not whine like the sandy butt filled spoiled sandys that there was no multiplayer online mode like they whined about EVERYother current gen game, specially those that were single player franchises.

Epic fail and a rip off and I actually played Alan Wake at my friends Xbox 360 Elite before it RRODeath-DIED and he was forced to buy the Xbox S. (thats his fourth Xbox 360 by the way)

That's only your opinion. For me it's the best game this gen. Just because it didn't end up the way YOU expected it to doesn't make it a bad game. Uncharted didn't end up being what I thought either but that doesn't make it a bad game. I don't cry about it and waste my life cutting it down

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Posted by AkumajoIt was an overhyped Microsoft fest where the xbox owners were led to believe this game was a the holy grail instead it turned out into a sub par, not even good enough to be mediocre 3rd person shooter crap.

They really should have focused on making their max payne game first instead of this which btw are the same crap only in max payne there is no fear of black things coming at you.

Its even pathetic how the usually critical games media did not whine like the sandy butt filled spoiled sandys that there was no multiplayer online mode like they whined about EVERYother current gen game, specially those that were single player franchises.

Epic fail and a rip off and I actually played Alan Wake at my friends Xbox 360 Elite before it RRODeath-DIED and he was forced to buy the Xbox S. (thats his fourth Xbox 360 by the way)

PS3 is shit? Yes it Is, IYO. Now can we focus on American Nightmare, anot AW and AW development... there is a AW PC stuff going on for that.

@Korn - yes, it's really repetative and i'm not talking bout combat - you do exactly the same objectives and collect exactly the same items FEW times (coz you rewrite reality more than once). Also you revisit same 3 locations few times. In this regard i would say it's much more repetative than original AW.

But all in all i do not regret buying it. Have really good time with arcade mode, as i already mentioned.

Posted by Seth@Korn - yes, it's really repetative and i'm not talking bout combat - you do exactly the same objectives and collect exactly the same items FEW times (coz you rewrite reality more than once). Also you revisit same 3 locations few times. In this regard i would say it's much more repetative than original AW.

just out of intrest im on my third 360 and my third ps3 and so far only the ps3 has broke on my (stopped reading disks and im not going to spend £130 for sony to repare it and give me a 3 month warrenty), the first xbox was a core system upgraded to an arcade as my second 360 and my 3rd is the 360 s, my first ps3 was a 60gb my second was a 40gb (the one that stopped working) and now i have an 80gb.

does it really matter what console i have of how reliable they are to me NO does it really matter to you guys NO so why bring it up, take that fanboy shit to youtube.

Gamersyde continuing the commentary slide downhill, I see. I remember when this place was a nice place for EU guys to debate games intelligently.

AW:American Nightmare is a great Arcade title. The story is actually continued intelligently, there's a lot of memoirs to pick up, radios to turn on, TV's to watch, just like a classic Remedy title.

The assets are re-used, but intelligently and, besides, are a pleasure to run through. The graphics are better - higher res for one thing - and the enemies more varied, with new types being brought in every time you enter a new loop. Objectives are not repeated in the same way, either.

The combat and reaction time has also been upped. It's not, however, a mere action game as on the higher difficulty levels you really do need to keep your wits about you. Enemies try to flank you and there's a constant feeling of danger.

Certainly any complaints about repetition, for me, come from people who're just parroting what they've heard elsewhere - Alan Wake was never any more repetitive than any other TPS.

Lastly, the franchise itself - complaining about the original not being open-world is utterly pointless, as we have no foundation to complain about it. If it didn't work for Remedy, it didn't work. It is better to judge a game on what you DID get, not what you dreamt of at night. You're only retroactively disappointing yourself.

Yes, I believe it was a victim of its prolonged gestation in that it gathered somewhat unrealistic expectations. However, what resulted is still one of the most interestingly weird AAA titles that's been released on consoles, and it's rightly gained a cult following. The story might not be everyones cup of tea, but I'd rather follow a game that's trying than one that's not. The combat was fluid, the ideas intriguing, some of the levels outstanding (the rock stage, for one). The use of visual cues was also brilliant and still is.

Let's judge games on what's presented, not what they aren't. And leave any idiotic comparisons out of it. Then I can get back to lurking and reading the sort of interesting Gamersyde comments I used to back in 2005/6.

you want "intelligent" debate, but by the sounds of things all you really want is a mass circle jerk with everyone commenting on how much they love the game. that's not grounds for a discussion, not a particularly interesting one at any rate.

Nothing to do with that at all, and if that's all you gained from my post then there's nothing else to say.

The cronying to either the PS3 or the Xbox has gradually gotten worse. It used to be that the two sides got on fine after the merge, now the signal-to-noise ratio has gone through the roof.

I have absolutely no issue with anyone disliking any game, but at least do so on your own terms and at least try to add some balance. Simply saying something's "crap" doesn't exactly add to a discussion either. Certainly I think AW is a good title, but the story is messy and, whilst I didn't feel so, there is an element of truth in the fact it's basically set in a forest at night against the same forces. However, I felt that there was enough to the game for any accusations of repetitiveness to be somewhat trite given the genre, and certainly enough content to get your teeth into.

Regardless, not sure why you specifically are taking it personally. Merely an observation. In truth, I think you'd prefer AW:AN over the first game by a wide margin. Just bear in mind it IS an Arcade title - it actually gives quite a large wodge of gameplay and satisfyingly continues the story - making Wake recognise his being a bit of an arse previously is a nice touch.

been watching twin peaks on netflix lately (how bad is it that theres only 2 seasons and its left with unanswered questions.. hate it when a series does that) has got me in the mood to play through Alan Wake again. Probably download the trial for this at some point

If they had a larger development team on this game to begin with it most definitely would have worked as an 3rd person horror open world shooter. anyone who gets pissed that people keep bringing up the open world needs to stop and think that this games hype was built from the open world prospect, and that is why everyone had this game on their radars as it was an open world game designed by the guys who made the fantastic max payne.

the only reason I picked this game up (as a rental sadly after years and years of wait) was just to see how it turned out. I really enjoyed it, but like most linear survival horror games out there, replay-ability sucks. if they were to market the game as a LINEAR horror adventure originally, I wouldn't have spent years trying to get every tidbit of new info I could scavenge up on every gaming site and forum out there. if you can honestly say you were not disappointed at the slightest that they removed the free roaming part of the game, you are a liar or had not enough interest in this game from the start

Posted by bleachedsmilesbeen watching twin peaks on netflix lately (how bad is it that theres only 2 seasons and its left with unanswered questions.. hate it when a series does that) has got me in the mood to play through Alan Wake again. Probably download the trial for this at some point

They (Remedy) certainly took massive inspiration from Twin Peaks, and it's one of the things that makes the game absolutely amazing in terms of the world they created and the atmosphere. They even put the hotel on top of a big hill just like in Twin Peaks. I was expecting Bob to pop up somewhere, and perhaps they'd have put the waterfall in the game too, at least I was hoping. I've yet to complete the game. The concept is almost genius in the way the plot revolves around everything. I've yet to finish it, but I hope I'm not disappointed by ending in the same way that the overall design has turned out, at least the pattern it's following at the moment, which is a somewhat tedious affair knowing that once it gets dark, I'll have to once again get a flash light, some flares, and cut my way through swaths of monotonous baddies shrouded in darkness, which is almost invariably to go from point A to point B. I don't mind it, save for how predictable it is. Even that part where the bloke jumps out of the toilet cubical; I was expecting that, and it sort of sums up AW's gameplay elements.. It's certainly very ambitious, though, so I have to take my hat off to Remedy for that.

@mustacio - maybe I'm jaded from years of pre-hype marketing, but certainly by the time Alan Wake came out any pretensions on my part for it being open world had most certainly faded. It wasn't as if I hadn't had years to swallow that fact. :P I'm certainly not a liar! Regardless, it contains the same technology and whilst for the most part levels were linear, they often opened out and the size of each area, allowing you to see your objective in the distance, was always expansive.

I don't believe it was ever sold as a horror, either. Certainly it takes a ton from Twin Peaks. It's more a supernatural thriller in line with the X-Files than a horror game.

I think you'd get more out of Alan Wake if you were a fan of Twin Peaks or the X-Files, or even the older shows that it references with American Nightmare - Tales From The Crypt, The Twilight Zone, Tales From The Dark Side, that kind of thing. More "knowingly weird" than scary. Which I believe it pulls off quite well.

As Mr White says, it's very ambitious. Maybe Remedy will get it right second time around - they're certainly listening to criticism.